Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz

(This article was first published in the Sinai Chronicle, publication of Sinai Reform Synagogue, Leeds) Jewish holidays are strange, really – topsy turvy if you will. During the bright heat of summer, usually a happy and relaxing time, we mourn the destruction of the Temple and the many ills that have befallen the Jewish people during Tisha b’Av. During the autumn when the wheel of the year spins towards sleepy endings, Rosh haShanah celebrates new beginnings. During Sukkot, we subject our vulnerable selves to the fickle elements of autumn. During the verdant abundance of spring with plenty of fresh foods to enjoy, we honour Pesach with dietary restrictions and contemplations on the meaning of freedom. And now, after a welcome repose offered by the quiet month of Cheshvan, we will find that Chanukkah is not all that different. In the darkest months, Chanukkah is all about light. On a practical and psychological level, this makes sense. Like other winter festivals such as Christmas and ...

Stockimage by Google This was a brief lunch-time Chanukkah activity that I crafted for my fellow students at Leo Baeck College. The purpose of the activity was to not only see Chanukkah as the celebration of a military victory or of Divine intervention but rather as a celebration of inner transformation as we move from darkness into light, from our inner values to an outer expression thereof. Feel free to use it if you like it - just credit me. Your Inner Light Channukah Group Activity The Rabbis transformed Chanukkah from being a military commemoration to a feast celebrating the Chanukkah ‘miracle’ of the oil fueling the lights of the Menorah for eight days. The essence of Chanukkah to the Rabbis was ‘pirsumei nisa’, the ‘publication of the miracle’ (T. Bavli, Shabbat 21a). Hence, we are commanded to light lights, increasing in number every day (according to Beit Hillel) and place them in window sills or doorways. In other words, we have to let our light shine! How about if we extend...